Re-reading this classic is always a pleasure. By today's novel-writing standards -which have to do more with movie rights, current affairs and instantRe-reading this classic is always a pleasure. By today's novel-writing standards -which have to do more with movie rights, current affairs and instant gratification - this book is quaint and a bit clumsy but so much richer. The language is downright beautiful and has a magical quality of halting time and breath. The story of Don Alsonso de Quijano and his obsession with chivalrous times that never were but in old epic poems, his loving, funny and infuriating relationship with his squire Sancho Panza, the barren land of La Mancha...it all conjures adventures of both surreal and gritty quality. The characters are so well drawn and realistic that one can't help but believe them. Most touching is Don Quijote's quest to live by impossible standards and transform the landscape and characters in his imagination . Sancho Panza tries to keep things under control but goes along with the game driven by conflicting emotions of greed, faithfulness and terror. Both friends are punished by inn-keepers , deceived by crooks or well-intentioned foes, treated to banquets and beaten up again and again -even by windmills- but refuse to quit. All is worthwhile for Don Quijote who hopes to win the love of his imaginary dame Dulcinea del Toboso and endure the same labors of his literary heroes. Sancho just hopes to improve his lot in life. All along , memorable characters pop in and out. In the style of the time, some stories are inserted that have nothing to do with the plot. Don Quijote is a refusal to accept limitations in thirsting for an ideal and transforming endless utter failure by strength of conviction alone, enrolling a lot of people in the process and justifying any mishap as the work of enchanters. The story doesn't end well but the quest in itself becomes so powerful that even the skeptics become believers when they look at the alternative. There is simply no better message about life or better book to deliver it. (...more
Sometimes along comes a book that just hits it in the head. This is that book in my opinion. Briefly, it exposes how we as consumers and investors havSometimes along comes a book that just hits it in the head. This is that book in my opinion. Briefly, it exposes how we as consumers and investors have benefited greatly from the evolution of more competitive and global markets but at great cost to us at citizens. The author has a very clean style and each chapter focuses on one main idea. The first chapter explains how capitalism of the post WWII times ushered an "Almost Golden Era" of corporate statemanship where the ideals of democracy and business seemed to go hand in hand. In chapter two we see how at some point technology of all kinds (ship containers, the internet, global markets) created a much more cut-throat environment for companies fixated on the bottom line. The author gives example after example in every chapter and they are all fascinating. Further on, as the uneasy feeling that our search for the best deal is just pushing Wal-mart and others to become steamrollers against labor, the environment and other social ideals the author talks about how corporations have encroached in Washington and politics has merged with corporate lobbying pushing citizen concerns to almost an inaudible pitch (but disguising corporate intentions as good public policy). The hardest chapter to read and the most eye-opening was chapter 5 on what we misleadingly call "corporate reponsibility " and how it is just business as usual despite the appearances. Mercifully there is a final chapter on possible course of action. Don't let my simplification stop you from reading this book. As any good subject book it goes well beyond economics and it allows the reader to shift his/her point of view on many subjects from the news; to crime; to culture wars; to the political theater; to why the "spread of democracy" is no longer a prerequisite for capitalism in places like China. The author advocates democracy as opposed to letting untapped corporate goodwill do the right thing as (mostly Republican but a Democrat majority) politicians would do. It also advocates certain regulations against money in Washington. The books, in my opinion is brilliant in that it splits the consumer and the citizen into two entities sometimes at war with each other and with one side clearly winning. It really moves the discussion forward to what really matters as opposed to all the distracting noise from all who confuse congressional scoldings of executives and boycotts against corporations as progress. Highly recommended....more
he book is worth acquiring for the quality of the illustrations. Paul Cadmus was a magnificent artist in the line of Tooker. He ran against the convenhe book is worth acquiring for the quality of the illustrations. Paul Cadmus was a magnificent artist in the line of Tooker. He ran against the conventions of art in his time with the use of an exceptional talent for darftmanship and a vivid sense of satire.
The text pretty much limits itself to describe the pictures and offers some sparse biographical notes but doesn't add anything. Interestingly, some quotes from newspapers , Cadmus' friend E.M. Foster and Cadmus himself appear scattered throughout . These are much more informative than the tortured descriptions of the main text.Quote-right ...more
This book has some interesting chapters on the educational system in Austria during the Hapsburgs which is one of my favorite time and location perio This book has some interesting chapters on the educational system in Austria during the Hapsburgs which is one of my favorite time and location periods due to the confluence of social restriction, aestheticism and hypocrisy. Zweig expounds on his beginnings as a writer and it soon gets pedantic and boring from the on.
His descriptions of his comings and goings lack saliency and relevance; he is just a dilettant living "au desus de la melle¨ and supporting an idea of a unified Europe that looks like a drunken reading at a poets salon, fun but banal. Everybody he encounters fits the same description or is a key character in Europe´s history. With a few exceptions like Walter Rathenau, Lenin, Gorki , Rodin and Paul Valery, all others are footnotes. Some encounters seem agrandized and being made important in restrospect. Whatever the case, the narration lacks in real detail.
The main objective of the book is to show the reader how Zweig´s life was shaken and upturned by the two World Wars. Instead, one gets the impression that Hitler did him a great favor by sending him into exile (he was Jewish, in case it needs explanation). Otherwise he would have been just another novelist collecting letters of famous people, paying visits to famous poets and sipping coffees in Viennese cafes. Well, may be I am being to harsh. After all, exile is no laughing matter but Zweig seems to have had the connections to survive it and keep up with his intellectual life.
His descriptions of the inflationary periods in Salzburg and Germany have some interest and he observes rather well the shift of the European mentality between the two wars, especially regarding the failing trust in politicians and the vanishing of romantic notions about wars before the murder of the heir to the Austrian throne. But, in many ways, Zweig seems too trapped in his literary bubble to become a real witness. He embodies the intellectual that will be the trademark of European thought and art in the latter twentieth century, ineffectual, isolated and committed to a general cause of dissent without specifics. The details of daily life are lost as unimportant as if separated from his all-important correspondence. He mentions his wife once , for example, and just to say that she was shocked by some Italian writer's embrace. Really lacking in texture. His prose is concise for the most part and well built but this is a book easily forgotten. ...more
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